1. Field of the Invention
The present application is related to video processing, more particularly, to stereo video processing.
2. Description of the Background Art
Stereo or “3D” videos enhance the illusion of depth perception by simulating stereopsis, thereby creating the illusion of depth through the simulation of parallax. One aspect holding back the widespread adoption of stereo videos, however, is the availability of videos in a stereo format. Traditionally, the primary way to generate stereo videos was to film in stereo using two different cameras angled from different points of view to capture depth information. Due to the difficulty and expense associated with filming in stereo, comparatively few stereo videos have been generated to date.
Further, although it is currently possible to create a stereo video out of a mono video, existing techniques are not very robust. Existing techniques compute motion of objects between video frames to determine what objects in the frame to project or recess relative to the display surface. These motion-based techniques, however, have difficulty determining the boundaries of objects. As a consequence, incorrect object segmentation occurs, where part of an object appears projected or recessed, and another part does not. Visually, such segmentation disrupts the depth illusion effect, making it difficult for a viewer to discern what objects in the frame are projected and what objects are recessed. As a consequence existing techniques for generating stereo video out of mono video are generally not able to create stereo videos that depict the depth of objects in the frame in a consistent and accurate manner.